The Citizen, 2002-08-28, Page 7Northern excursion
Meagan Lee, centre, of Blyth spent a month and a half visiting' Finland this summer- when
she participated in the Lions exchange program. Students from countries such as Estonia,
Turkey, Germany, Holland and Mexico attended to the camp. (Photo submitted)
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2002. PAGE 7.
Student says Finns have American view of Canada
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
Leaving the - sweltering
temperatures of Huron County in
July, Meagan Lee headed north to
Finland for her Lions exchange
program.
Though she had checked out the
average temperatures for July in the
northern country, the information
proved to be wrong.
"The internet said temperatures
were between 32° and 35° C, "said
Lee. "They were wrong, it was 22°
to 25° C. I had to buy more clothes."
She soon learned that she was not
the only one slightly misinformed
about another country. Her host
family, which lives in Jyvaskyla, in
the south central region of Finland.
asked Lee how much snow Canada
has now.
"The people of Finland have an
American view of Canada because
they get American television shows
and news," she said.
Once settled in, Lee found that life
was much different for the Finnish
people. "We biked everywhere. We
biked all over the city, 40 kilometres
each day," she said. " I never want
to hike again."
The city centre was also quite
different as no automobiles were
allowed and the shopping malls were
constructed like eight-floor
skyscrapers, she said. "There are
only two stores on each floor so we
had to do a lot of walking."
With walking a common form of
transportation in the country, Lee
said the people are not used to long
car rides. On a drive to Helsinki,
which would he similar to driving to
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Toronto, the family had to stop for
breaks.
Though Lee was able to
communicate reasonably well with
her host family as the two teenaged
daughters spoke English quite well,
it was with the shopping that she had
difficulty.
"I got in the habit of asking if (the
clerk) spoke English, so the first
time shopping back in Canada, I
asked the same thing. They looked at
me kind of funny," she laughed.
She was able to pick up a few
words of the language, but found it
very difficult because the length of
time a letter is emphasized can alter
the meaning of the word. she said.
Though she had to make some
purchases, Lee said she will never
again complain about the prices in
Canada. "Everything was so
expensive. Gas was $1.50 a litre and
diesel was $1.02."
Lee did find some political
similarities in Finland. She found the
Finnish people's refusal to speak
Swedish similar to the Quebecers
preference not to speak English.
"It reminded me of home," she
said.
There was another aspect that
reminded Lee of Ontario. The hilly
countryside where she was staying
looked very much like Northern
Ontario, she said. She also noted that
the Lapplanders, who live above the
Arctic Circle have a similar lifestyle
to Canadian Inuit.
However, the menu was much
different from home as the Finns eat
a lot of fish. "Not my favourite," she
added. "Even when you go into the
large grocery stores, all you smell
fish."
Lee did note that the Finns are
very healthy people, with many
being vegetarians. "They eat berries
on everything."
"I didn't see red meat until the
camp and that was deer."
The best part of the trip was the 10
and a half days she spent at the Lions
Camp, she said.
"We went on a cruise and a 12 km.
hike. That night we slept in army
tents and it was so cold, we had 20
people in a tent meant for eight,
trying to stay warm. I wore all the
clothes I had."
Sleeping caused.problems for Lee
more than once. Because of the
northerly latitude, when she first
arrived in early July, there was only
45 minutes of dark at night, she said.
"Even that was really just blue."
By the time she left in mid-
August, the night had increased to
three hours.
The light during sleeping hours
also bothered her because Finns
place the head of their beds next to
the window, with no curtains, so
they can absorb as much sunlight as
possible during the summer months
because the winters are long and
dark.
Much to her discomfort, Lee said
the high rate of suicide in the
country, often attributed to the lack
of sunlight, was a popular topic for
discussion.
"It was really scary thinking that
someone I met might commit
suicide."
Though she enjoyed her trip
thoroughly. Lee said she is glad I he
back home. "It may sound strange to
the people who know me, but I
missed Blyth."
"I would - like to thank the Blyth
Lions and Legion for giving me this
opportunity and Baintons for
sending a' sheep skin for my host
family. Everyone loved it.'
Lee, the I6-year-old daughter of
Dave and Rosie Lee of Blyth will be
returning to Central Huron
Secondary School this fall as a
Grade I I student